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Groups Push FTC to Act on MS XP, Passport
BuckMulligan writes: "EPIC and a coalition of consumer and privacy groups have renewed their calls for FTC action to protect consumers from the privacy risks associated with Windows XP and Passport. In a letter sent to the FTC, the groups criticized the FTC for not upholding its statutory duty to protect consumers in light of the planned release of Windows XP. More information on the groups' previous FTC complaints is stored on the EPIC Microsoft Passport Page." So who here thinks the FTC is going to block Windows XP? Me neither. The other remedies requested (toward the middle of the letter) are interesting, though.
Jeez. It isn't like there's a law requiring you to have a Passport account. Some people...
Which is it?? You can't have it both ways.
I recently purchased Money 2002 and it has you sign up for a passport ID on install. Then everytime you open Money, it asks for it again.
Now, this may be just a "software choice" and not "forced on by the OS" but it still leads me to believe the FTC could care less. This problem is too ingrained in the commerce/commercialism division of capitalism, the only way to change it is by regulating it (hoping that enough congressmen/women are not totally on the side of big business) (and regulation of businesses is another big topic, and has many problems associated with it) or leaving it up to consumer choice/free market...but face it...it's hard to motivate ppl who just want to balance thier checkbook/email/browse the web and could care less about the implications....
I think there is extremism on both ends. Too much regulation and you can sqelch true innovation, or hurt businesses, or create huge goverments. But if you rely on the market and the population to chose, well, lets just say its hard to beat a intel's/microsoft marketshare with the average complacent home user who might use his computer for 3 hrs a week... because in aggregate that makes a lot more marketshare than the 10% who realize that hey there are better alternatives out there....
I need a TiVo for my car. Pause live traffic now.
Why do you need the FTC to block Windows XP? You can block it yourself using the method known as "not buying it" if you don't like it.
It seems to be taking some people quite a while to figure it out, but I've tried it and I can tell you it certainly works. It's considerably more effective than the method called "grubmle and moan to your friends about microsoft and then go out and buy their products" that most people seem to be using.
-- MartinG To mail me: echo kewyjlcxyzvjfxbqwh | tr bcefhjklqvwxyz
After reading the letter, make sure to scroll through all of the signatures at the bottom. If you haven't yet done so this year, open up your check book and contribute to your favorite of these organizations. These consumer organizations can only continue to push the FTC if we support them.
Jason
First, security details are a non-issue. None of the proposed remedies even address the security concerns.
Just reading through the proposed remedies I have to ask whether these complaints are just there for the sake of bashing Microsoft and propping up competitors:
"An investigation into the information collection practices of Microsoft through Passport and associated services"
...we don't trust them, investigate them!!
"Order Microsoft to revise the XP registration procedures so that purchasers of Microsoft XP are clearly informed that they need not register for Passport to obtain access to the Internet"
...it was clear enough to me when I installed XP that the Passport registration was separate from internet access, after all you have to be connected to the internet before you can register with Passport!!
"Order Microsoft to block the sharing of personal information among Microsoft areas provided by a user under the Passport registration procedures absent explicit consent"
...why just Microsoft? Shouldn't the companies registering this complaint also volunteer their own information sharing policies? Smacks of hypocrasy to me.
"Order Microsoft to incorporate techniques for anonymity and pseudo-anonymity that would allow users of Windows XP to gain access to Microsoft web sites without disclosing their actual identity"
...you mean like a fake hotmail account? No one's done that before!
"Order Microsoft to incorporate techniques that would enable users of Windows XP to easily integrate services provided by non-Microsoft companies for online payment, electronic commerce, and other Internet-based commercial activity"
...what's wrong with the other companies? Can't they write code anymore?
"Provide such other relief as the Commission finds necessary to redress injury to consumers resulting from Microsoft's practices as described herein"
...there's been damages? Sheesh!
not to mention the real kicker:
"Begin an investigation to determine whether Passport complies with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act."
Oh my GOD!!! Think of the CHILDREN!!!
I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this one as a legitamate complaint. None of these remedies sit anywhere close to fixing any known problem with Passport. Naturally the most obvious remedy is to open the protocol and allow third parties to implement their own Passport servers but that would be too obvious, wouldn't it?
Fear: When you see B8 00 4C CD 21 and know what it means
All I want is to be able to 1) buy a computer from any PC manufacturer I want without ANY operating system, or 2) be able to immediately sell, on eBay let's say, the operating system and junk that comes with a new PC. And not get a nastygram from Microsoft, or the guy who buys it can't run it because of some serial number.
If I buy a car, or a TV, or pretty much anything else, I can strip it down and sell the parts and nobody calls me a "pirate". For instance, I sold a card remote and sensor from an old Discman on eBay. I can remove the tires, or the engine, or the ashtray from my car and give them away or sell them, then add my own.
Why can't I do this with my computer? Why are software companies allowed this power? Really, I want to exercise my capitalistic rights and avoid Microsoft, but it's hard.
Let me see. The Passport prompt comes up the first six times. I have 10 completely clueless friends are going to call and email me every single time it comes up. I have 20 moderately intelligent friends who will call the first two times then email me asking for detailed instructions how to disable it. I have 50 friends who'll know exactly what it's doing and will send me rants every time it happens. That's 100 phone calls and hundreds of emails. Then there's my dad who I'll have to visit personally and connect through six times so he doesn't see it again.
That's a lot of my time wasted which could be better spent elsewhere. I wish I could charge those costs back to Microsoft.
This isn't about you and me, about those with the knowledge to avoid such pitfalls. It's for the unlearned masses, many of whom I'll end up wasting my time responding to. Just like this message.
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Actually, the worse-case scenario would be that it gets "cracked big time", Microsoft doesn't notify anyone, and not only do the 'unwashed masses' get their information compromised, but they don't blame Microsoft one way or the other.
Either that, or Microsoft blames hacker 'terrorists' and everyone walks home happy (except the consumers, of course).
-Matt
Yeah right. Instead, they can simply spin it as "terrorism".
Actually, I think the whole computer-crime-as-terrorism thing is a pretty useful analogy.
When the bad stuff happened last month, the FAA responded by completely shutting down all air travel in the US until major policy changes could be instituted. Did it have a serious impact on the security of the US air travel system? Dunno. Maybe. The point is, the FAA acted, and acted fast, doing the best job they could think of. We'll never know, thankfully, if they saved lives by doing so.
When nimda happened, Microsoft responded by... um. Actually, how did they respond? Exactly what swift, decisive measures did MS take to lessen the impact of that problem, and prevent future problems?
I use imici, it lets you use all 4 - imici, msn, aol, icq in one app